The double whammy job
by 20lbsofCrazy
Summary: When two members of the team are captured, Nate and the others must enlist the help of someone from Parker's past.
1. Chapter 1

Disclaimer: I don't own them, I just play with them. All original characters are my own, but you can use them if you just ask. I made no money from this story I do it merely for a hobby. "nuff said, Lets write!

Chapter 1

The hallway was vast, gutted and the acoustics left plenty to be desired. Every gentle footstep threatened to echo just loud enough to draw some very unwanted attention. His knees protested as he crouched once again into the nearest shadow at the sound of approaching footsteps.

"Hurry Eliot," he heard Nate pleading in his ear, "You gotta hurry."

Eliot knew this. He could hear the same conversation in his com. Sophie was in trouble. Their mark, a scientist by the name of Dr. Michael Grayson, had suddenly become very suspicious of the Grifter and had begun an assault of questions. Now, Eliot was attempting to reach her location and Sophie was doing her best to keep up with answers coming from both Nate, and the Internet researches provided by Hardison.

They had been approached two weeks earlier by Jean Braxton, a biochemist for a large chemical manufacturer. She had enlisted the help of Leverage Inc. to retrieve some chemical formulas that she had developed and claimed had been stolen by Dr. Grayson, who intended to create a chemical bomb using the completed formula. After some extensive research, Hardison had discovered that Dr. Grayon had recently partnered with one Colonel Chapman of the United States Army, who was supposed to be on assignment in Afghanistan. He definately was not in Afghanistan, in fact he had been spotted entering a scientific research center in Boston mere hours before Hardison had done his search. After calculating the amount of risk to the team vs. the danger a completed chemical bomb would pose, the team agreed to take the job.

Sophie had skillfully been accepted into the program as Dr. Denise Jacobi, an acclaimed Russian physicist with a somewhat checkered past, bordering on unethical. Their story of course backed and proven by the talented Mr. Harison and his unlimited knowledge of the world wide web. At first Grayson had been a bit offset by the presence of Dr. Jacobi's personal bodyguard, but Sophie had already prepared for this.

"With a reputation such as mine Dr. Grayson, one must take precautions." She had told him in a flawless Russian accent, "Andrew has been with me for two years now, and quite frankly, I trust him more then I trust you."

Nate had tensed up at the remark, but Dr. Grayson had eaten it up, smiling and allowing Eliot full access to any areas that Dr. Jacobi would be working.

The job had been going flawlessly, until Eliot had been separated from Sophie due to a security breach in her lab. Now, as he creeped down the hallway after taking out three guards that had been waiting for him in the lab, he knew that somehow they had been blown.

"I'm out." Parker announced as she exited the building undetected. She had been posing as a custodian for the last week for the sole purpose of lifting as many access cards and pass codes as possible.

"Good, Parker head back to the office and make sure you're not followed." Nate instructed, chewing on his thumbnail nervously.

Parker knew this already but didn't say anything. Nate had more important things on his mind. This job was dangerous to begin with and was quickly going horribly wrong.

"What is this all about Dr. Grayson?" Sophie asked flatly, willing herself to stay calm, "I grow tired of your interrogation."

"Good Sophie, keep him talking as long as you can. Eliot is on his way" Nate coaxed

"Eliot, there's a stairwell up on your left, take it down one floor. They're in the room down the hall to the right." Hardison directed from the blueprint displayed on the monitor in front of him

Eliot instantly obeyed, rushing down the stairs, checked the hallway and ran to the last door to the right and entered carefully.

"Whats going on here? Are you alright Dr. Jacobi?" he asked in character.

"I'm impressed, I expected you to be in custody by now," Grayon said with a smirk.

"What are you talking about?" Sophie asked, instinctively stepping closer to Elliot.

"You can cut the act Dr., if you even are a physicist. Did you really believe you could waltz in here and walk back out with all my research?"

"Get out of there guys!" Nate ordered

The cracking sound of a taser made Sophie jump and Eliot grimaced, his muscles tightening and he toppled forward to the floor. Sophie fought the urge to grab at her ear as the electric boost cause Eliot's com to squeal and crackle out. Two uniformed guards slapped handcuffs on Eliot's wrists while another detained Sophie.

"You really want to know about the weapon we are working on?" Grayson sneered, "You'll get a first hand look. We'll need someone to test the prototype before we can produce it."

Grayson waved his hand at the guards to take them away and Eliot caught a glimpse of the terrified expression on Sophie's face before they were roughly escorted out.

"Eliot? Sophie?" Nate yelled into his com. "Parker, can you hear me?"

"Yes. I'm almost there." she answered.

"Hardison?" Nate yelled, turning to face the hacker, "What the hell happened to the coms?"

"We lost them. The electricity fried it."

Parker arrived at the office a few minutes later and found Nate pacing the floor in front of the monitors. Hardison looked up at her as she entered the room and fell into the couch next to him.

"I need to know everything on this Grayson guy."

"We already have everything I could find on him. There isn't anymore." Hardison replied staring at the information he had.

"Parker, did you get the tap on his office phone?"

"I got one on Grayson's phone, but not the Colonel's." she shrugged, "I didn't have time."

"Damnit!" Nate cursed and kicked a chair across the room causing Parker to jump.

"Hey, chill man." Hardison said glancing from Parker to Nate

"Chill? We just lost Sophie AND Eliot to a terrorist group in possession of a chemical that is capable of killing them in a horribly slow and painful manner and you tell me to chill."

"Stop." Parker said barely above a whisper. She had never seen Nate so angry and it scared her.

"We have no idea how close he is to completing those formulas, or how long they have after being exposed to it." Nate continued

"Stop it!" Parker yelled, standing up from the couch and looking down at the floor. "This isn't doing anybody any good."

Nate worked the muscles in his jaw and glared at the thief. He knew she was right. No matter how much he yelled and demanded action, he knew that Hardison had gotten everything he could find, and if there was anything to be known about Grayson or the Colonel, they would have discovered it already.

"Ate?..." Sophie's voice cracked in his ear, " ardison?"

"Sophie!" Nate pressed his fingers against his ear, "Thank god, are you guys alright?"

"Yes, we're alright. I think we've overstayed our welcome though, hows about that plan to get us out of here?"

"We're working on it." Nate thought for a moment, "Sophie, the chemical?"

"It's not finished. We've got some time, but once it's finished..."

"How long before he gets a working prototype?"

"A week, give or take a day." she paused for a moment, "Nate, if he gets it before you get us out..."

"How long do you have after exposure?" He held his breath, he really didn't want to know the answer, but he needed to know.

"48 hours."


	2. Chapter 2

Chapter 2

Three hours later, Nate, Parker and Hardison sat around the living room silently. Each trying to think of some way to get Sophie and Eliot back. Parker stared into her bowl of soggy cereal, having lost her appetite on the first bite. Hardison sat on the couch next to her, nursing a bottle of orange soda, completely enthralled in the information in front of him, searching frantically for anything he may have missed.

"We have to go back in." Nate said quietly to himself.

"Obviously, but how? We're down a grifter and a hitter." Hardison sighed.

"We need help. Someone who isn't afraid of guns or chemicals or even death. Someone who could get in, and walk out with Sophie and Eliot, and if we're lucky, with the formulas to the bomb." Nate continued straight ahead at the open room.

"Oh right, let me see if I can find one on ebay." Hardison snorted.

"He's getting creepier again." Parker whispered to Hardison.

"I've chased alot of thieves, I'm sure I could find one that..."Nate trailed off mumbling to himself.

"They're screwed." Parked blurted out sadly, giving up on her cereal and taking her bowl to the kitchen.

"Finn!" Nate exclaimed, hopping out of his chair and Parker's bowl crashed in the sink.

"Huh?" Hardison looked from the thief to Nate.

"We need Finn."

"Whats a finn?"

"Not a what, a who." Nate was smiling now. The smile that meant the wheels in his brain had started turning in twisted circles. He put the com in his ear.

"Eliot, can you hear me?"

"Yeah Nate, whats the word?"

"I may have an idea, I need you to listen in on." he began "Seven years ago, I investigated the theft of a sculpture from the Egyptian Museum in Cairo. The piece had been taken down to the curator for some cataloging. Curator received a phone call, and when he came back from the call no more then 5 minutes later, the piece was gone. On the table where the sculpture had been was a post it note, the word Finn written on it. I assumed it was meant as a slang term. The job was done, finished, Fin."

Nate was pacing the room now, his brain turning a mile a minute as he explained.

"A few months later a similar piece went missing from the British Museum in London. Same type story, in and out with the artifact in under five minutes. Nothing left but this note. Finn. Within the next few years, the calling card popped up all over the world, St. Petersberg, Madrid, Italy, Paris, Spain, New York. Always the same handwriting, always spelled with two N's."

"Yeah I heard about that. He stole an entire collection of medevil weapons from a museum in Cleveland. In and out with a dozen weapons within an hour." Eliot added.

"Great story and all Nate, but what does this have to do with our situation?" Hardison spoke up.

Nate raised his hand to shush tha hacker.

"One day I got an anonymous phone call, a lead. Finn was going to hit the Vatican. I flew to Rome and helped them boost up security. We waited for hour and then right out from under our noses one of Apollo's muses goes missing. Figuring we've been had, we closed our investigation and headed home. Then I realized, there was no note. He wasn't finished.

"So you set a trap." Eliot finished for him.

"I set a trap." Nate confirmed.

"So you caught him?"

"No." Nate shook his head and looked to Parker, who was still standing at the sink, washing her cereal bowl for the second time. "I caught her." she froze.

"Wait, what? Parker?" Hardison stuttered. "So Parker is Finn?"

"Thats what I thought at the time." Nate continued. "But to my surprise, after two days in maximum security prison, our thief there vanishes from her cell, leaving behind a simple piece of paper."

Silence filled the room and Parker shuddered, knowing everyone was staring at her. The story to Nate was a memory for Parker. A piece of her past. She didn't want them to know her past, it was hers to ignore, not theirs to intrude.

"Parker?" Nate called finally.

She took a deep breath and blew it out before turning to face them. She shrugged her shoulders and stuck her hands deep into her pockets.

"We need Finn, Parker."

"Trust me Nate, you don't want Finn."

"You're right. I don't want Finn. We NEED Finn. If he could get you out of a maximum security prison, he can get Elliot and Sophie out of a research facility."

Parker sighed again. "I'll see what I can do."

Parker didn't sleep that night. She would close her eyes just long enough for a dream of her life before leverage would sneak in and make her jerk them open again. She lay flat on her back in the over sized bed in Nate's guest room. They had decided to stick together for the night and in the morning they were supposed to begin the desperate attempt to recruit the one person that linked Parker to her childhood. Groaning she grabbed her pillow and blanket and drug them down to the floor before curling up and closing her eyes. The memories came, but this time she let them.

_Laughter filled the small wooded area that surrounded a rickety old tree house set high into a large willow tree, as Parker and Finn climbed up the thick branches and through one of the cutout windows. Parker had discovered the tree house by accident after running into the woods to escape the yelling of her current foster father, after he had received a note from her teacher that Parker had been disruptive in class yet again. She had immediately run back to the school to get Finn, who was two grades below her, and together the returned to the tree house. Now, nearly two months later, they had decorated the splintery walls with containing a small fish bowl, the home of a tadpole they had caught in a puddle after a big rainstorm and named Frank. The next shelf contained an old watch, a deck of cards, a box of matches, and various other trinkets they had discovered during their explorations of the woods and nearby riverbed._

_"K, take the watch," the 11 year old Finn said through a smile to her 13 year old friend._

_"Whats that?" Parker pointed out the window and quickly undid the over sized silver watchband, and caught it as it fell off her friends wrist. _

_"HA!" she laughed, dangling the watch in front of her face. "Did you feel it?"_

_"Not at all!" Finn squealed, "Did you feel me take the wallet?"_

_Parker spun in a circle, looking at her back pocket that had been holding the thick brown leather wallet only moments before._

_"I didn't even know it was gone!"_

_They laughed in delight and plopped down onto the rags and towels they had carried up into the house in a bucket and piled high to sit on without getting splinters in their hands and clothes. _

_"Do you realize what we could do?" Finn said staring out through a hole in the roof._

_"What?"_

_"We could leave here. We could take enough wallets to get money for a bus ticket and just go somewhere else. No more foster homes, no more stupid school. Just me and you, doing what we want to, whenever we want to."_

_Parker lay down on the towels next to her friend and pondered this. A world without rules. No one to answer to but yourself. No more foster homes. No more bruises. What a world that would be. _

Parker woke the next morning stiff and tired from her restless night on the hardwood floor. She padded out into the living room where she found Nate sitting silently in his armchair with a cup of what appeared to be coffee. She sighed and helped herself to a cup and fell into the couch, her nose catching a hint of scotch.

"You look like hell." she said before sipping her coffee. Nate snorted.

"Any word?" he asked, still not really focusing on her.

"I left her a message."

"Her?" his eyebrows furrowed. "Hm...I always though Finn was a man."

"Most men do." she replied, "You thought the same of me before you caught me. I could see it in your face."

They were silent for a moment before he spoke again.

"About that Parker," he began, "how did I catch you?"

"What do you mean? I walked right into your trap."

"I tracked you for years. I never came close. I got a tip off. Someone told me you would be there."

Parker grimaced and took another sip of her coffee.

"That's what happens when you work with other people. Someone always gets greedy."

"Greed requires something to be gained. I never understood what the real point of the heist on the Vatican was. Until now. Finn turned you in didn't she?"

Parker stiffened, her silence the only answer he needed.

"It's all a game to her. Lord knows she doesn't need money. The score was always turned up somewhere or sold to an auction, so she doesn't collect. Its the thrill of the heist. She likes to show the world she can do it. That's why she leaves the calling card."

"The Vatican set a president. She wanted to stand out, to do something that has never been done before."

"She stole the thief."


	3. Chapter 3

Author's Note: Thank you for reading, and thanks so much for the few reviews I have received. I'm going to try and get this story updated daily until its finished. Your reviews are very much appreciated.

Chapter 3

Sophie opened her eyes and was assaulted by the bright white room surrounding her. She blinked away what was left of her sleep, and sat up from the stiff cot that Eliot had graciously given her for the night. As she sat up, she spotted Eliot, sitting with his back against the fall wall, which in reality was only about five feet from the other wall.

"How'd you sleep?" he asked gruffly.

"Oh, well, ya know...stiff neck and all that." she replied, pulling her hair back out of her face. "It's freezing in here."

"Yeah, remind me to put that on the survey card."

"Any word from Nate?"

"They are bringing in an outsider. I guess they're still trying to track him down."

"Well that's something I suppose."

"Listen Sophie," Eliot suddenly found the stale white floor very fascinating, "I'm sorry I got you into this. I shouldn't have left you alone with that creep."

"Oh Eliot stop that. For all you knew their really was a security breach in my lab. I'm just glad that we're in this together and I'm not alone."

She scooted down to the floor sitting next to him, nudging him on the shoulder as she did. He gave her a soft smile, that she rarely saw before turning his attention to the single door to their cell, thinking.

Back at the office, Parker and Nate had finished their coffee and were bouncing some idea off each other when Hardison finally mosied out of his bedroom, wearing his star wars pajama pants and orange crush t-shirt. Parker snickered at his outfit and watched him walk into the kitchen for his morning fix of orange flavored caffeine.

"Nice of you to join us." Nate called in after him while flipping through some papers he had spread across the coffee table.

"Hey man, I was up all night looking for juice on our friends over at Biotech. I hardly slept a wink so don't ya be startin up on that." Hardison said, and continued to mumble to himself for another few seconds.

Finally Nate set down the papers from his hand and sat back in his chair.

"Parker, are you sure you're message would have gotten to her? We're running out of time on this."

Just as the words left Nate's mouth, Hardison plopped down onto the couch next to Parker and shoved a bite of a bagel into his mouth. Both Nate and Parker's stared at the hacker, a grin forming on each of them.

"Yeah, she got it." snickered Parker, poking at the message written in black marker across Hardison's forehead and chin.

"Got what? What ya'll smilin about?" Hardison asked before catching a climpse of himself in the computer screen.

"Ah man, what the hell?" he said, licking his finger and rubbing at the marks. Succeeding only in smearing it along with bagel crumbs across his face.

"Noon. That gives us two hours to figure out how to get her to help us." Nate said looking at his watch.

Nate had never taken the time to really notice how little shade was present at exactly noon when the sun was directly overhead. But sitting here at the small cafe on the corner of 4th and Main, the small detail seemed to intrigue him. Not so much the fact that there was a severe lack of shade, but the fact that he had never really noticed it before. Maybe this had to do with the fact that he often drank himself to sleep and didn't wake up until sometime after noon, when the sun was casting more shadows.

"Nate?" Hardison's voice cut through his thoughts. "You okay man?"

"Yeah, yeah just fine."

"Like I was sayin, how exactly are we supposed to get this Finn whats her face to help us? We ain't got nothin to offer."

"She's a thief Hardison, thieves like money. We offer some of the dough from Grayson's funding of the project and she walks aways."

"Thats assuming we get the formulas as well. What if we can't?" Parker asked.

"Then at least Sophie and Eliot are safe and we can deal with that when we get to it."

"Or we could talk about it now."

They turned in unison to face the young woman who, at some point in their conversation, had taken a seat at the table next to them and now was kicked back in her chair, feet on the table listening intently. Nate studied himself in the reflection of her sunglasses for a moment before speaking up.

"Finn I presume."

"Well that's what they call me." she said flatly. "Parker. Been a long time."

Parker ignored the comment and turned her attention to a small bird, bouncing happily around the tables looking for bread crumbs from the morning crowd's muffins and coffee cakes.

"Uh yes well, you see, we've hit a bit of a snag on our last job, and we need your help." Nate spoke up, not sure who the woman was looking at through the sunglasses.

"Getting two members of your team caught by terrorists seems a bit bigger than a snag. More the Grand Canyon of all ruts." she said through a crooked grin.

"Yes, well regardless the size, we have a problem. We need you to get them out."

"And why would I want to do that?"

"Fifty percent of the scientific funding to Biotech engineering. Comes up to be, oh about 8 million dollars."

The woman laughed and took her feet off the table, and leaned onto her elbows.

"Come on Nathan, you and I both know that 8 million is all in a days work for me. Ive got more funds then I really know what to do with right now. Not that I don't enjoy sifting through it now and again. Besides I've got a more, exciting job on the back burner at the moment. So if you can't come with something a bit more original then a money offer, I'm gonna have to decline the offer and be on my way."

She stood up, threw some cash on the tabletop for her coffee and began to leave when Parker finally spoke up.

"Lazaro."

Finn stopped, one eyebrow raised and glared at the thief.

"If you help us. I'll give you Lazaro."

The woman's jaw clenched a few times before sneaking out into a smirk that made Nate's skin crawl. She turned her attention back to him and extended her hand.

"You have yourself a deal Mr. Ford."


	4. Chapter 4

"Okay Parker, spill it." Nate said finally after they had arrived back at the office. "What's Lazaro?"

"It's whats gonna get Sophie and Eliot back Nate. Just take it and be happy with it." she answered slipping past him and retrieving a small box from the cusions of the couch.

"What is that?" Hardison pointed to the box.

"Just some stuff. Some cash, a passport, call it my rainy day travel bag."

"You keep your rainy day travel bag in my couch?"

Nate and Hardison watched intrigued for a few minutes as their thief shrugged off the question and continued her trek around the living room and kitchen, pulling various small objects from the most random of hiding places.

"What are you doing?" Hardison asked finally.

"I'm hiding my stuff."

"What stuff?"

"All the stuff I hid around the house for safe keeping. If Finn is going to be in here, I don't want her to find my stuff. She's a thief."

"What are you a ferret?" Hardison laughed.

"Parker, I'm going to totally overlook the fact that you have random "stuff" hidden around my house, and I'll even let the box in the couch slide, but I can't ignore Lazaro. What is it, and why does she want it?"

Just as Parker was about to speak, the door to the office opened and a voice she that brought back too many memories echoed through the living room.

"Honey, I'm home!"

The woman waltzed casually into the apartment, tossed her leather jacket over the back of the couch and ran a hand through her short hair, causing it to stick up in all directions. She looked around the room nodding her head before settling her sights on Nate.

"Nice Digs. Bet you didn't have a place like this working insurance." she grinned.

"Come on in." Nate replied sarcastically.

"Thanks. Shall we get this over with?"

She took up a spot on the couch and lifted her feet onto the coffee table, ignoring the look Nate gave the dirty black boots. Hardison took his place in the chair furthest away from the intruding party before looking around the room for Parker.

"Just start without her, she'll be here in a few." Nate directed, figuring Parker had taken off to re-hide her belongs by how quickly she had vanished from the room at her old friends arrival.

Hardison clicked on the large screen on the opposite wall and began the presentation he had given to his team just a week prior.

"This is Dr. Michael Grayson of Biotech Productions. He's head of the team developing a formula that will produce a new grade of chemical weapon using the information he stole from our client, Dr. Jean Braxton."

"What does the weapon do?" Finn interrupted.

"It kills people, what does it matter?" Parker asked, entering the room and sitting down on the opposite side of the couch. Finn rolled her eyes.

"Anyways, we got schematics of the research center where they are being held. There are armed guards posted at all exits, and about a dozen roving guards inside the facility. Now we figure we have a better chance of getting in during the guard shift change in the evening."

"Wait, go back." she said, sitting up and pointing to the pictures Hardison was bringing up on the screens. "Whose that?"

"Colonel Chapman, U.S. Army. We believe he is funding the research and will be the one handling the completed product and putting it to good use no doubt."

"You guys want that formula as well as your friends right. Then he's our way in."

"Uh, no Finn, he's the bad guy here. I actually think he will have no problems making Dr. Grayson disappear once he's got a working prototype."

"But he's an Army Colonel correct?

"Yes."

"Then he's our way in. Even a crooked soldier has to follow someones orders if he wants to stay off the radar. We simply change his orders."

"And how do you suppose we do that?" Hardison asked, noting the wheels turning in Nate's eyes.

"Air Force Colonel Sam West." she answered matter of factly. "Colonel West will arrive at the facility with orders from Brigadier General John Larson stating that oversight of the facility will be directly under the command of Colonel West. Effective Immediately."

"You know how hard it is to create a military officer?" Hardison snorted, "Besides, he's not gonna fall for phony orders."

"You said yourself, the Colonel isn't even supposed to be there right?"

"Right."

"The military catches wind of the research and orders it be overseen by one of their own. Chapman isn't supposed to be there, so he will have no choice but to allow them access." Nate added.

"Right. But better yet, we add him to the orders, only he will be working under the orders of one Colonel West."

"One question," Hardison raised his hand, "Whose Colonel West?"

Another evil smirk formed across her face as she spoke.

"I am."


	5. Chapter 5

Parker sat under a blanket on the patio watching the snow that had began falling lightly. She glanced down at the folded up photo she had been studying only a few minutes before and took a deep breath. Her past was full of people and things that she never wanted to see or even think about again. Everything about her childhood had been inconsistent and wild, like a roller coaster with no safety restraints. The one part of her that remained steady was her friendship with Finn. She trusted her and relied on her, right up until the day betrayed her.

"You realize its freezing out here right?"

Finn slipped silently from the fire escape above and dropped down onto the patio next to her.

"Yep."

"Still mad at me then?"

"Yep."

Finn nodded her head and stuck her hands into her armpits, retreating as far as she could into her leather jacket. She blew out a slow breath and watched, the steam vapors drifting away and eventually evaporating.

"Ya know, they aren't half bad." she said staring down at a man stumbling out of the bar below and into the snow.

"Who?"

"Your new family." she shrugged, "I checked 'em out when I heard you'd found yourself a team. Never really saw you as a team player before."

"Why are you here Finn?"

"You called me remember."

"But why did you come? You could have ignored it. You said you were running another job, why pick this over that?"

"Because we made a pact Parker. We could always count on each other in a bind. Remember that?"

"You didn't hold up your end."

Finn looked at her, hurt for a moment before shaking it off and turning to leave.

"I'm here now Parker. You're still the only family I got."

With that she climbed back up the fire escape and disappeared into her window, leaving Parker to her thoughts, which was a place that Parker hated to be. She took another look at the crumpled photo, two girls, one blond, one brunette both smiling big missing toothed grins, and she remembered the moment they had taken it.

_"Oh my god, is that what you're wearing?" Finn asked through her laughter, pointing at Parker._

_"No. This is what Karen thinks I'm wearing."_

_It was Halloween night and the only night their foster parents allowed them to go out and stay out late. Though that didn't prevent them from going out late on any other night as well, they just didn't have to be sneaky about it on Halloween. The compromise being that Karen, their foster mother, got to dress them up in ridiculous looking costumes prior to their escape from their home. This year was no exception as Parker slouched out of the house wearing head to toe pink, and her hair pulled up into a face lifting ponytail._

_"Are you a Barbie or something?"_

_"I don't know. Shut up. Look whose talking, what are you supposed to be anyways?"_

_Finn was wearing all black with a giant cardboard circle hung over her shoulders._

_"I think I'm a cookie."_

_They laughed and ran from the house, stripping off their costumes as they went. They ran for a few blocks before Finn stopped and dug into her pocket._

_"Did you get the camera" Parker asked breathless._

_"Yeah, I got it. Hey lets take a picture. Us, before our first crime job."_

_They laughed and wrapped their arms around each others shoulder, smiling while Finn held the camera in front of them and flashed a picture._

A gust of wind pulled Parker from her thoughts and she blinked away the memory and looked down at the picture. She wiped at her eyes that threatened to leak before crumpling up the photo and tossing it off the side of the balcony. Things had changed, she had changed and they definitely were not kids anymore. Not friends. Parker had a new family, and Finn was not a part of it.

The next morning they gathered at the office to begin phase one of their plan. Getting the General to sign off on Finn, aka Colonel West's orders to take command of the facility.

"Hey can I have that?" Finn asked Hardison, pointing at his orange soda.

"No, get your own. You're worse then Parker, you don't need any caffeine. Ever." he answered not liking their space being invaded by this person that seemed to have Parker on edge. If Parker didn't like her, then he wasn't going to like her either.

"Come on Hardison, Its the last one. I even asked and didn't just take it." she whined

"Are you guys ready?" Nate asked walking into the room and studying the Army uniform Finn had somehow conjured up from thin air.

"Yeah, as soon as I get Alec's soda."

"Don't call me Alec and you ain't gettin my soda."

"I'll flip ya for it." she said pulling a quarter out of her pocket.

"Don't flip her for it." Parker said entering the room and tossing her bag on the kitchen counter.

"Two outa three." Finn added.

"Alright, will you shut up about it, if I do?"

She grinned and flipped the coin.

"Heads or tails?"

"Heads."

She caught the coin, slammed her hand down on the table and walked away with Hardison's soda smiling.

"Hey you said two outa three." he said before looking down at the table in front of him. Now instead of the quarter were two dimes and a nickel all showing tails.

"You lil cheatin...." he trailed off, grabbing his coat and joining the group at the door to leave.

"I told you not to flip her for it." Parker said walking past them and out the door.


	6. Chapter 6

Author's Note: Huge appologies that it has been so long since I've updated this story. I know exactly where I'm taking it and how I'm ending it, but just haven't had the time to write it down. I'm almost done moving into my new house, so once that is done I should have more time to finish this up for you and start on another one I have floating around in my head right now. Thank you for your patience and as always your reviews are greatly appreciated. Special thanks to MusicEstvita for all the reviews. Lets write!

The drive to the base where they would be meeting General Larson was fairly quiet, all except for Hardison talking in Nate's ear.

"Colonel Samantha West. Promoted up from Major six months ago. Graduated from West point before one very active career. Six overseas tours and get this, over five hundred hours of logged combat air time. She's a black hawk pilot. Her name pops up on a bunch of other reports but all classified, I can't get in. Thats quite a cover to be put together overnight Nate. My guess is that our thief there has been playing pilot for quite a while." Hardison informed.

"Finn, how long have you been Colonel West?" Nate asked eyeing the woman in the drivers seat.

"Almost a year."

"What for? What are you planning to steal from the government?"

"Don't worry, I haven't done it yet. My cover is still good. Hey with any luck, my cover will still be good after the job." she grinned smugly.

"Whats the job?"

"The double eagle gold coins." she answered, checking the rear view mirror quickly for Parker's reaction. There was none.

"As in the double eagle gold coins burried somewhere in the heart of Fort Knox?"

"Those are the ones."

"And what are you going to do with them once you have them?"

"That's still a secret Nate. Remember, I don't know you that well."

They pulled up to the gates of the base nearly a half hour later and Finn got them through the guards with a flash of an ID card and a crisp salute. She pulled the sedan down into a parking garage and slipped it into a spot clearly marked "Colonel S. West."

"You have your own parking spot?" Parker asked a little jealous. She had never had her own parking spot, but then again she had never had a job that she went to more then once either.

She grinned and looked over the suits the pair were weaing with a nod and led them away from the garage to a large brick building.

"Good morning Sergeant. I have visitors to sign in." she greeted as the entered the lobby.

The young soldier at the desk stood with a salute and once it was returned he handed her a clipboard.

"I have a meeting with General Larson. Is he in yet?"

"Yes Ma'am. He should be in his office."

"Thank you Sergeant." she smiled and led them across the lobby to some large double doors.

She ignored the large red Restricted sign and slid her ID card, releasing the lock and they followed her through. They walked down along hallway of marble floors, passed numerous offices filled with military personnel, and even passed a handful of armed military police, all of whom seemed to know her and didn't question her being there. Nate's nervousness was starting to ease and maybe this plan would actually get Sophie back to him. And Eliot of course.

She stopped at an open door and knocked lightly on it, peeking her head in.

"Oh, good morning Sam, what can I do for you?" he greeted her with a smile.

"Sir, I have Doctors Rhinehart and McHale with me." she motioned for Nate and Parker.

The General stood from his desk and shook each of their hands. Parker forced herself to make eye contact with the burly man and immediately had a new opinion of what Army Generals were supposed to look like. This guy was smiling and normal. She wasn't scared of this guy.

"Doctors, please have a seat. Colonel West has given me a small briefing on the activities going on a Biotech Productions, but I'd hoped you could give me more information before I made any orders."

"Abosultely," Nate agreed in a slightly English accent, "Biotech Productions is attempting to create a chemical compound that is capable of being used as a very deadly chemical weapon. When complete it will be a toxin in gas form, quickly released and spread, but nearly impossible to detect as it will disappear after less then 5 minutes of exposure."

"What happens to those exposed?"

"We aren't sure. Since the formula is not complete, it hasn't been tested. But we estimate it will become fatal to the victims within 48 hours."

The room fell silent. The General sat back in his chair, hands linked together against his chin as his eyes went from Nate, to Parker, to Finn. Not being one to be comfortable in silence, Parker looked from her teammates then to the General, back to Nate and then spoke.

"The Russian military is already aware of it." she blurted out. Nate scowled.

"The Russians? What would the Russian military want with it?" Larson asked staring at her.

"Well think about it. Nice new pretty chemical bomb. We can't let a weapon like leave this country."

"Sir, as we know, the United States does not use chemical warfare like this. Its inhumane and unethical. We would be no better then Saddam Hussein if we let this be produced and distributed. You know when they complete it, it will be sold to the highest bidder." Finn spoke.

"Okay Sam. We take control of the facility. You find out what exactly it is they are trying to accomplish with this and report it back to me. I'll have your orders within the hour."

"Also, as CO of this assignment, I'd like to request the assistance of Colonel Chapman. He is currently on a stand still on assignment in Afghanistan. I believe his experience in such areas would help me out."

"I'll see what I can do."

The shook hands and were dismissed from the General's office. Finn led them down the hallway and around a corner before ducking into another large office and closing the door behind them.

"Hardison, whats the word on Sophie and Eliot?" Nate asked, taking a seat in front of the large wooden desk and flicking at Finn's phony nameplate.

"Still waiting it out in their cell. Eliot said they haven't even seen anybody except the guard bringing them food since they were put there."

"Good, that's good. They aren't bragging about being close to done yet. Let them know that we'll be there in a few hours, with orders to take over the facility." Nate smiled and nodded to Finn.


End file.
